On the Streets
by BlackQuill00
Summary: "After four years Kazuma returns with amazing power, but he didn't get that immediately, and being banished is a hard thing for a 16 year old to handle."


After four years Kazuma returns with amazing power, but he didn't get that immediately, and being banished is a hard thing for a 16 year old to handle.

Soon after leaving for China, Kazuma's credit card was stolen. Without realizing it Kazuma went from lacking a job and a home to lacking money, a job, and a home. Maybe if this had happened while in Japan things would have taken a different path, but in China so far away from the possibility of any familial concern, things go badly quickly.

Kazuma wasn't stupid, even if getting on a boat to China may not have been the best thing to do two days after being forced pack up and leave the Kannagi house hold. But at the time it seemed to be the only possible thing to do. Kazuma knew he was being followed, and also knew it was only a matter of time before the members of the house hold- who had always held a grudge against the special training he received especially as he seemed to have no talent for wielding fire, -caught up to him. He was alone, and this time there would be no one there to stop them from going too far.

In the past there had always been the fear that if they seriously hurt him they would be in trouble with either his father or Jugo. Even if neither really cared, it wasn't like a murder would be allowed to happen within the house hold. Most of the time someone would happen upon group and stop it, though they always informed his father who would rant about the disgrace his inability to defend himself made him. Outside the house hold when no one ever expected him to come back, Kazuma wouldn't survive long. So he left.

China was so wonderfully different, but within three days his mother's credit card was no longer in his wallet. In fact, he no longer had a wallet. That rather was his fault, he had not been as careful or observant as he should have been with the card, but really the most important thing was that it was gone. He had just tried to buy a meal and got chased out of the dingy little restaurant for his trouble. To be honest, his was a bit surprise it had taken that long for the card to disappear, being in a strange city he kept getting lost in and all. Still, it hurt that the last grudging gift of his mother had given him was gone so quickly and so easily. His cheap room at his hotel was paid for in cash for two more weeks. If he could just get a job, maybe he could stay there.

But finding a job in China without any references or even a high school diploma, in addition to having a little difficulty speaking the language, was near impossible. So two weeks later Kazuma packed up his bags and left the hotel to avoid the embarrassment of being thrown out. He was being watched by the hotel staff after he asked the manager of the hotel if it was possible to work for his room. Not only was it impossible for him to do so, but now they seemed to expect him to steal from the hotel and he knew he would be escorted out if he stayed a moment past what he had paid for upfront.

It only took four days for him to lose all of his belongings aside from what he could carry. It wasn't that just that if he didn't keep a hold of whatever he had it would be taken; he was also sleeping on the streets, in a place he didn't know surrounded by millions of other people many of whom were in just as desperate situations as he. He woke up one night fighting for his shoes as another homeless person- adult or child it was too dark to tell- tried to snatch them off his feet. It was more than a little frightening and the training he had been given all his life was the only thing that allowed him to wake up in time to keep ahold of the few belongings he had left.

Now, in addition to having no money his few personal possessions were being stolen. It had been close to ten days since his money was gone; even before he lost his hotel room it was unusual if he ate more than once a day. When he was on the streets even that meager amount of food decreased, sure there were homeless shelters, but those had lines and he was a foreign kid. Sure if he got there in time he might be able to eat and have slightly safer place to sleet, but he never seemed to get there early enough and there was always the possibility that one of the people working there would try to get a child off the streets. In his situation, that would not be good. It wasn't like he had his passport anymore, even if he was still legally in the country.

By the end of his first week on the streets, barely eating once a day and three close calls with the police-since snatching food at a market was one of the best ways to eat even if it was dangerous- all Kazuma wanted was to go home. But that was impossible; even if he could somehow get to the Japanese embassy, he no longer had identification. Sure he could explain that away but they would want to check his story, and he had been disowned. If they managed to reach the Kannagi family, most likely the only thing that would happen is that he would be considered a liar. Being disowned meant that he was no longer apart of the family, and never had been. As far as his family was concerned, the only child his parents had was Ren, his little brother.

In the slim possibility that the Japanese embassy believed him and allowed -or forced -him to leave China there wasn't a home waiting for him. As a minor, he would either be put in a foster home or an institution, neither of which seemed like a good situation to Kazume. Foster families were not very accepted in Japan and, from the few stories he had overheard, institutions were worse. It might be better than being on the streets in China, but then again it might be worse. At least here there was no one here who knew him to enjoy his situation, nor those who had always taken pleasure in hurting him.

Really, what he wanted was to go back in time to when he had a home and food. Sure he had hated it there and been so unbearably, but he was a kid and he was afraid of dying in this place where no one cared about him even the slightest bit. He was tired of fighting and running and trying to avoid danger. He was tired of people looking at him as though he was a bad person and it had only been seven days. Kazuma wanted to go home, but it didn't matter because home didn't exist anymore.

AN: (I'm taking fanficition license to change what happened to Kazuma while he was banished from his family, making this a bit of a darker fic than the ones I've read and the situation that is presented in the anime. I also was unsure of Kazuma's exact age; I read 20 or 22- which makes him disowned at 16 or 18. So I've decided he is 20 now, and was banished at 16. That makes some sense because in the anime Kazuma's father says he was defeated by a 12 year old or someone 4 years younger than him (I think). It also works better for my fic if Kazuma is younger, not that it is all that easy for an 18 suddenly on his own, but it would be much harder for a 16 year old who had always had a family and money to find himself on the streets. I just don't think it would go as well as it seemed to in the anime. So in my story, it didn't.) This is my first fic, please review J. Also, please tell me if you think I should continue with this. It would have more character interactions if I continued and I would probably make an original character to help Kazuma survive, which would make it an AU sorta. Thanks BlackQuill00

After a review from Guest Hope (thank you for reviewing!) I decided to change it the way Kazuma loses his credit card. Yes, I realize that in the anime this does not happen. But I find it rather unlikely that a teenager wandering around a foreign city, likely at times in not so great areas would not get robbed. People get their pockets picked every day. (Sorry about the long AN)


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